1) Who is going to be the next best young driver?
JML: Mads Ostberg has already had some very good results this year, and if he
gets a factory drive he would become a very important driver. Thinking about
the young drivers in the championship, we already have Ott Tanak and Thierry
Neuville, very promising young drivers, then I would say the next two after
them are Esapekka Lappi and Elfyn Evans is also showing very strong success.
2) How do you think that the world championship could be made more
popular?
JML: First of all we need more teams. We don’t have enough teams but next
year we are getting Volkswagen. Then also the television side is not right and
we need to get the promotions side fixed.
When I was out of action earlier this year with a shoulder injury, it was great to
follow Rally Argentina on the internet but I feel that the rally programmes are
not as exciting as they used to be.
Looking back to when I started, when you had many top drivers and many top
teams, that is the first step that makes it exciting. The second thing is when
there used to be three cars in a team. For me, that was a good thing.
3) Do you think the arrival of Volkswagen will encourage new extra
manufacturers?
JML: I feel so. I hope other manufacturers will notice that if VW, one of the
biggest car manufacturers in the world, can get good publicity from rallying,
they will see that they are missing something unless they are involved as well.
So I really hope so. .
4) What do you think about Sebastien Loeb?
JML: He is the best man in rally history. I think overall in motorsport he is the
best man in all the fields. I don’t think it will be easy to have someone else like
him again. He is really, really strong in everything he does. I really admire him
but of course at the same time I want to beat him.
5) What do you remember about your big crash in Portugal in 2009? Did you
close your eyes?
JML: There was so much sand coming inside the car that it was difficult to see
what was happening. But I remember noticing the roll cage come crashing
down and at that moment I thought I was going to die.
The biggest relief was when it all stopped and I could see that Miikka (Anttila,
my co-driver) and I were alright, and I remember the next thing. All Miikka said
was: “These things happen when you go fast!"
6) How do you think that the Fiesta compares with the DS3?
JML: For me they are very close to each other; very, very same level, and I
need to say that in Finland the DS3 did a little step forward but still the cars are
very close to each other. I believe our Fiesta can still be improved.
RALLY >>> INTERVIEW
Portugal 2009 – Latvala and Anttila
went off the road on a left-hand bend
and rolled 17 times, 150m down
a steep hill, finally coming to rest
against a tree. It was the biigest crash,
of a number, in Jari-Matti's exciting
career to date.
FAQs: Latvala’s Frequently Asked Questions
45
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